This constant pressure from record companies to come up with a hit single or something like that, I find completely tiresome.

Because of my politics, people think I'm anti-American. But I was quite the reverse. What I don't like about the United States is when the government acts like an old, imperial 18th- or 19th-century European power.

People have habits about what they think songs should be like. There's the folky thing of: "Poor me, I'm a sensitive person in a cruel world." Or the pop thing of: "Hey, look at me, I'm sexy."

I know people who grow old and bitter. I want to keep making a fresh start. I don't want them to defeat me. That would be suicidal.

Im not, by nature, a collaborator. My biggest influences were people like painters and poets. These are solitary workers.

What I like about popular culture is its accessibility, and I've covered popular songs because they are amazing things.

The missing links in my life's work, no less!